Virtual Assistant Skills To Include In A Job Description That Will Guarantee Top-Tier Applicants

As the demand for virtual assistants (VAs) grows among employers, the sector has experienced robust growth with professionals equipping themselves with Virtual assistant skills that position them in the market. As employers continue to adopt remote working models, this role has proven to be a very essential part in most businesses, and a key contributor to their success as well.

How then do you write a job description that will attract top tier candidates for your business? In this article, we dive deep on how to get a skilled VA candidate through curating a well detailed job description. Whether you are hiring for the first time or are expanding your team of VAs, a clear outline is the ultimate guide to achieving your goal.

What to consider when developing Virtual Assistant Skills in a Job Description

The first step to attain your goals starts by conducting a detailed needs assessment of your business. A good tool that employers can utilize is the SWOT analysis tool. This will help you outline your area of strength, the specific challenges you are facing, the opportunities you can seize with the help of a VA and the threats that you need to overcome.

Here is a simple outline of a needs assessment that can guide you;

1.    Strengths

Use this to define what sets your business apart and what will attract high-quality VAs. You can achieve this by describing your brand reputation and presence, your company culture and the long-term opportunities you create for your employees.

2.    Weaknesses

In this step, you need to take note of areas where you are struggling as an entity. This helps you clarify on the expectations that will place on the VA and outline the virtual assistant skills that you need to fill the gap. Some of the common challenges include lack of time to handle administrative tasks, disorganized or manual systems that need automation, negative feedback from customers due to poor customer service, among more. Identifying these challenges one by one guides you through knowing the specific skills of a virtual assistant.

3.    Opportunities

At this stage, you paint a picture of what the current role can grow into for your business. This allows you to envision the soft skills you should include in your description that will attract a candidate that is aligned to your vision. This can include, whether they will eventually lead a team, whether there is an expected transition, from a part-time role to full time, or from a general to a more specialized role. In addition, you also get to outline any learning and development opportunities that will boost their performance generally.

4.    Threats

Lastly, it is important to also assess what your competitors look for and how you can develop a solid job description that will only attract the best. Could your competition be offering better compensation packages? Or could they be offering better work-life balance structures for their employees? These are some factors that will help you write a well-rounded offer that will get you the best in the industry.

You have conducted the assessment; then what?

How to translate a Needs Assessment to a comprehensive Job description for Virtual Assistants

After the assessment, it is essential to translate your insights into real job requirements. You can do so by using the strengths to highlight a candidate you would want to work with, the weaknesses to highlight the virtual assistant tasks, opportunities to highlight the value you offer to them and career growth packages, and the threats to make your offer more attractive and competitive. After translating the insights to job requirements, you can compose essential pars such as the introduction, summary of the role, the responsibilities and expectations, required virtual assistant skills and qualifications, and the benefits such as growth potential, compensation packages and perks attached to the role.

What are the Top Virtual Assistant Skills You should look for?

In addition to a solid assessment and strategy, hiring a VA that is equipped with the right skills for the job is equally important. As an employer, you need to utilize the outcomes of your initial findings to outline the non-negotiable skills for your VA. Further, you need to set clear classification of the respective qualities into hard skills, technical skills and soft skills.

Here are some skills that are must for you to attract top-tier candidates;

Top Hard Virtual Assistant Skills

These are job- specific abilities and knowledge that the job seeker should possess. Some of the must-have virtual assistant hard skills include;

1. Email and calendar management: A virtual assistant main role is to remove the chaos and disorganization for their employer. They should be able to transform your emails into clear conversations and your calendar into a collaborative engagement tool both for your employees and your customers while retaining clarity and maintaining priorities.
2. Data entry and management: data is the foundation of an entity’s success. A VA who is skilled at managing data will position you for success by ensuring accuracy in the flow of information, aiding better decisions and a boost in efficiency.
3. Basic Book keeping and invoicing: This one of the areas that organizations struggle with. A slight error can cost your business, hence, finding a VA that is precise even with simple expenditure management and invoicing is essential.
4. Customer Service and Support: Eventually, your virtual assistant becomes the first point of contact for your business. You need an employee that will maintaining good relations with your customers, achieve a high retention rate, boost loyalty among clients and represent your brand values without fail.
5. CRM management – this quality is mostly aligned with customer service and is essential in organizing and analyzing customer data. A VA with this skill will help you ensure that your customer relations run smoothly and build new customer portfolios that are aligned to your business.
6. Knowledge Management – this is one of the most ignored yet most crucial skill any virtual assistant should possess. VAs that are trained in knowledge management can easily process information, understand processes and apply the right information to the right task ensuring flow and contribution to the overall goal.

VA Technical Skills

Technical skills portray the VA’s ability to utilize platforms, software or tools that aid in optimum performance in their respective role. Some of these experience that you should highlight include proficiency in;

1. Communication Tools – these are tools that facilitate communication between you and the VA such as Slack, Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
2. Project Management Tools – tools such as Notion, Asana, or Trello are important for organizing and prioritizing tasks. Hiring someone proficient in one or more of these tools means they can organize their work and improve the flow of tasks for business.
3. Automation Tools – knowledge in platforms like Zapier that can be used to integrate different systems within your business, sharing data, building an informational flow and building faster systems is a competitive advantage

Soft Skills for Virtual Assistants

These skills portray the interpersonal abilities and personality traits that are critical in ensuring success for the role through collaboration, independent problem-solving and communication. Some soft qualities that portray a top-tier Virtual assistant are:

1. Communication Skills –whether a beginner or experienced VA, strong communication skills are a must have. The candidate should have the ability to pass messages along efficiently both in written and verbal form.
2. Time management and prioritization –This is equally important for any good virtual assistant. They should know how to prioritize important tasks and allocate time correctly ensuring critical tasks are never delayed.
3. Pro-activeness and Self-Motivation – you need an employee that takes initiative and solves problems without waiting for instructions or looks for ways to improve structures and save your business time.
4. Organization and ability to multi-task – hiring someone who can juggle different tasks while maintaining order is a win. In a normal day, a VA will be required to manage schedules, organize data or engage customers simultaneously. A candidate with this quality will streamline your workflow and prevent things from falling through the cracks.
5. Adaptability and flexibility – businesses are always evolving, structures changing and you need a dynamic VA that can adapt to any changes without stress and stays produces results even when systems shift.
6. Emotional Intelligence – if the role is customer-facing, this skill is a must have, They should be able to read the room, remain calm and employ empathy in their conversations.

Find the best Virtual Assistant with Remote Raven

You have put the effort to write a strategic job description that will get you the right help; someone that brings the virtual assistant skills that your business truly needs. But the truth is, even the best job post can fall flat if it does not reach the targeted people.

At Remote Raven, we connect you to top tier virtual assistants who are not only skilled but also a perfect fit for your business needs. We ensure that our candidates are equipped with the hard, technical and soft skills that drive results for your business while building your brand.

Are you looking for a VA that will steer success and growth into your business? Book a free consultation today or contact us and discover how the right VA can transform your workflow.